Restrictions on use
This site is owned and operated by Research Advocacy Network, Inc.
ADVOCATELINK - TERMS OF SERVICE AND USE
Research Advocacy Network, Inc. (an Illinois not for profit corporation and IRS designated
501 c 3 organization) provides the AdvocateLink site at URL: http://www.AdvocateLink.org/
("Site"). The Site offers the services to match opportunities with volunteers skills and
interests, including but not limited to the AdvocateLink online volunteer matching service
and various syndication services, and other information related thereto (collectively, the
"Services") to our users, whether they be nonprofit organizations, volunteers, readers of
our newsletters, registered AdvocateLink members, or other visitors to the Site under the
terms of service and use contained in these Terms (as defined below). "You" means the
individual person entering this Agreement on his or her own behalf; or, if this Agreement
is being entered on behalf of an organization, such as an employer, "you" means the
organization on whose behalf which this Agreement is entered, and in the latter case, the
person entering this Agreement represents and warrants that he or she has the authority to
do so on your behalf.

AdvocateLink Terms of Service and Use, along with AdvocateLink's Privacy Policy, located at
http://www.AdvocateLink.org/privacy_policy ("Privacy Policy"), set forth the legally
binding terms of your access to and use of the Services ("Terms").
Please read the Terms carefully. You understand and agree that these terms set forth the
legally binding terms and conditions for your use of the Site and Services, and the Site
and Services are made available and provided to you exclusively under these Terms. By
visiting, using or accessing Site and/or the Services, you agree to comply with and be
bound by the Terms. If you do not agree with these Terms, you should leave the Site and
discontinue use of the Site and Services immediately. If you wish to register as an
AdvocateLink member to make use of the Services reserved for members, you must read these
Terms and indicate your acceptance during the registration process. Note, however, that
these Terms apply to your access to and use of the Site and Services regardless of whether
you register as an AdvocateLink member. We reserve the right to terminate your use or
access to the Services at any time for any reason, including, without limitation, if we
learn that you have provided false or misleading information or have violated the Terms.
1. ADVOCATELINK ACCOUNT
Registering. Depending on what Services you desire to receive, you may need to register and
become an AdvocateLink member. You will find registration instructions on the Site.
Eligibility. By registering as an AdvocateLink member, you represent that: (a) all required
registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the
accuracy of such information; and (c) your use of the Services does not violate any
applicable law or regulation. Your member profile may be deleted without warning if we have
reason to believe that you do not meet eligibility requirements.
Username and Password. When you sign up to become an AdvocateLink member either to post
volunteer opportunities or to search volunteer opportunities, you will also be asked to
choose a username and password for your AdvocateLink profile. You are entirely responsible
for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and all use of your AdvocateLink
username, password, and profile. You agree not to use the AdvocateLink profile, username,
or password of another AdvocateLink member at any time unless expressly authorized by such
AdvocateLink member. You agree to notify us immediately if you suspect any unauthorized use
of your AdvocateLink profile or access to your password.
Fees. If you are posting volunteer opportunities on the Site, you acknowledge that we
reserve the right to charge for the Services and to change the fees from time to time in
our discretion, upon notice to you at the then-current e-mail address stored in your
AdvocateLink profile. Upon using the Services to post volunteer opportunities, you will be
responsible for the payment of any applicable fees, and shall pay such fees to us.
Term. This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Site,
Services, or are a AdvocateLink member. You may terminate your AdvocateLink membership at
any time, for any reason, by sending an email to info@researchadvocacy.org. We may
terminate your membership for any reason, effective upon sending notice to you at the
primary e-mail address you have stored in your AdvocateLink profile.
AdvocateLink will provide you the Services chosen by you substantially as described on the
Site. The Site and Services are made available for your personal, internal, non-commercial
use. You may not frame the Site or Services, or make available, or facilitate distribution
of Content through any means or medium. You may link to the Site from other websites if you
obtain AdvocateLink's prior consent. Please send an email to info@researchadvocacy.org to
get more information about linking to the Site.
2. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
You must not use the Site or Services to: (a) violate any local, state, national or
international law; (b) stalk, harass or harm another individual; (c) collect or store
personal data about other users; (d) impersonate any person or entity, or otherwise
misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity; or (e) interfere with or disrupt the
Services or servers or networks connected to the Services, or disobey any requirements,
procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Services. You must not
reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any
portion of the Content, Site, or Services, use of the Content, Site, or Services, or access
to the Content, Site, or Services. Without our prior written consent, you may not (a)
allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass unsolicited, commercial
advertising or solicitations via e-mail (spam); (b) use any high volume, automated, or
electronic means (including without limitation robots, spiders, scripts or other automatic
device) to access the Services or monitor or copy our web pages or the content contained
thereon; (c) link or deep-link to the Site for any purpose; or (d) frame the Site, place
pop-up windows over its pages, or otherwise affect the display of its pages. All
information that you provide to us will be true, accurate and current.
3. MODIFICATIONS TO TERMS
We may change the Terms including, without limitation, the Privacy Policy, from time to
time. We will notify you of any such changes via e-mail. You agree that such amended Terms
will be effective 30 days after the notice is sent to you, and your continued access to the
Site or use of the Services after that time shall constitute your acceptance of the amended
Agreement. If you object to any such changes, your sole and exclusive remedy shall be to
terminate your membership by sending an email to info@researchadvocacy.org. In addition,
certain areas of the Services may be subject to additional terms of use. By using such
areas, or any part thereof, you agree to be bound by the additional terms of use applicable
to such areas. In the event that any of the additional terms of use governing such areas
conflict with these Terms, these Terms shall control.
4. SYNDICATION SERVICES
Some of the Services offered via the Site involve the distribution or syndication of
AdvocateLink Content via downloadable widgets (including without limitation the "Zip
Search" or "Search Lite" widget), client applications, RSS, or other technologies that
allow the distribution or syndication of content authorized by AdvocateLink ("Syndication
Services"). Some of the Syndication Services may be subject to separate or additional terms
and conditions ("Additional Terms"). In the event that no Additional Terms apply to
particular Syndication Services which you receive, the terms of this Section 5 apply to
your use of the Syndication Services. AdvocateLink grants you a non-exclusive, non-
transferable, revocable, limited, non-sublicenseable license to (i) access and use the
Syndication Services, (ii) download and install any software provided by AdvocateLink to
you that is required to use the Syndication Services as contemplated by AdvocateLink
("Code"), and (iii) view the Content that AdvocateLink delivers to you via the Syndication
Services, in each of the foregoing cases, solely for your personal, internal, non-
commercial use of viewing or making available for viewing Content on a website owned or
controlled by you. All rights not expressly granted by AdvocateLink to you are reserved.
You acknowledge that the Code and its structure, organization and source code may
constitute valuable trade secrets of AdvocateLink and its suppliers. Except as expressly
allowed under Section 5, you must not (a) modify, adapt, alter, translate, or create
derivative works from the Code or the Content; or (b) sublicense, distribute, sell, use for
service bureau use, lease, rent, loan or otherwise transfer the Code or Content to any
third party.
5. MODIFICATIONS TO SERVICES
We reserve the right to modify or discontinue the Site or Services with or without notice
to you. We shall not be liable to you or any third party should we exercise our right to
modify or discontinue the Site or Services. If you object to any such changes, your sole
recourse shall be to cease using the Site or Services. Continued use of the Site or
Services following notice of any such changes shall indicate your acknowledgement of such
changes and satisfaction with the Site or Services as so modified.
6. PRIVACY
As part of the registration process, you will be asked to provide certain personal
information to us. All uses of your personal information will be treated in accordance with
our Privacy Policy, which is hereby incorporated by reference. If you use the Site and/or
the Services, you are accepting the terms and conditions of our Privacy Policy. If you do
not agree to have your information used in any of the ways described in the Privacy Policy,
you must discontinue use of the Site and/or the Services.
7. THIRD PARTY CONTENT AND MONITORING
We are a distributor and publisher of content supplied by users of the Services and by
other third parties ("Content"). Accordingly, we have no editorial control over such
Content. Any services, offers, or other information expressed or made available by third
parties as part of the Content, including information provided by other users of the
Services, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) of that information and
not of us. We neither endorse nor are responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any
Content, or opinion, advice, information, or statement made on the Services by anyone. We
have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor and review the Content on the Services
and your account to determine compliance with these Terms and any other operating rules
established by us, to satisfy any law, regulation or authorized government request, or for
other purposes. You understand and acknowledge that we do not monitor Content for accuracy
or reliability.
8. YOUR CONTENT; LICENSE; REPRESENTATION AND WARRANTY
You are solely responsible for any information, comments, feedback, data, materials, photos
or other content of any type or description that you provide or make available to us
through or to the Site or Services, including any data entry forms found through the Site
("Your Content"), and we act as a passive conduit for the distribution and publication of
Your Content. However, we reserve the right to remove Your Content if we believe Your
Content may create liability for us. You represent and warrant that Your Content (a) does
not infringe on any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other
proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy; (b) does not violate any law,
statute, ordinance or regulation, including without limitation the laws and regulations
governing export control; (c) is not defamatory or trade libelous; (d) is not pornographic
or obscene; (e) does not violate any laws regarding unfair competition, anti-discrimination
or false advertising; and (f) does not contain viruses, trojan horses, worms, time bombs,
cancelbots, spyware, or other similar harmful or deleterious programming routines. You
acknowledge and agree that Third Parties (as defined below) are third-party beneficiaries
of these representations and warranties, and that they shall apply to them with the same
force and effect as they apply to us. You hereby grant to us a worldwide, perpetual,
irrevocable and royalty-free license, sublicensable through multiple tiers of sublicensees,
to use, reproduce, modify, distribute, display, perform, and create derivative works from
Your Content in any media or through any means now known or not currently known. You
acknowledge that some of Your Content will be publicly available for other users of the
Site or Services to view, such as feedback and comments. You are solely responsible for the
content of Your Content.
Without limiting the foregoing, if you believe that your work has been copied and posted on
the Site or Services in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide our
Copyright Agent with the following information: (i) an electronic or physical signature of
the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; (ii) a
description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; (iii) a description
of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Site or Services; (iv)
your address, telephone number, and email address; (v) a written statement by you that you
have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner,
its agent, or the law; (vi) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the
above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or
authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf. AdvocateLink's Copyright Agent for
notice of claims of copyright infringement can be reached as follows: Research Advocacy
Network, AdvocateLink (Copyright Agent), 6505 W Park Blvd, Suite 305, PMB 220, Plano, TX
75007 FAX: (877) 276-2187
9. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
You acknowledge that AdvocateLink owns all right, title and interest in and to the
Services, including without limitation, the Site, and all underlying software and
technology, including without limitation all Intellectual Property Rights. "Intellectual
Property Rights" means any and all rights existing from time to time under patent law,
copyright law, trade secret law, trademark law, unfair competition law, and any and all
other proprietary rights, and any and all applications, renewals, extensions and
restorations thereof, now or hereafter in force and effect worldwide.
10. RESPONSIBILITY FOR DEALINGS WITH THIRD PARTIES
If you are using the Services to find volunteer opportunities, your correspondence or
ensuing relationship with nonprofit and public service organizations, volunteers, partners,
advertisers, sponsors or other third parties found on or through the Services ("Volunteer
Organization"), including posting or acceptance of volunteer opportunities, and any other
terms or conditions associated with such dealings, are solely between you and the Volunteer
Organization you choose to deal with. YOU AGREE THAT ADVOCATELINK WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE
OR LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS, COST, DAMAGE, OR OTHER LIABILITY OF ANY SORT INCURRED AS THE RESULT OF ANY SUCH DEALINGS, OR AS THE RESULT OF THE PRESENCE OF SUCH PARTIES ON THE SERVICES AND YOU HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVE ANY CLAIMS AGAINST ADVOCATELINK ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH A VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATION.
If you are using the Services to find volunteers to fill volunteer opportunities, your
correspondence or ensuing relationship with the volunteers found on or through the
Services, including posting volunteer opportunities, and any other terms or conditions
associates with such dealings, are solely between you and the Volunteer. YOU AGREE THAT
ADVOCATELINK WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS, COST, DAMAGE, OR OTHER
LIABILITY OF ANY SORT INCURRED AS THE RESULT OF ANY SUCH DEALINGS, OR AS THE RESULT OF THE PRESENCE OF SUCH PARTIES ON THE SERVICES AND YOU HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVE ANY CLAIMS AGAINST ADVOCATELINK ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH A VOLUNTEER.
Release. You hereby release us, our officers, employees, agents and successors from claims,
demands any and all losses, damages, rights, claims, and actions of any kind including,
without limitation, personal injuries, death, and property damage, that is either directly
or indirectly related to or arises from (i) any interactions with other AdvocateLink users,
or (ii) your participation in any offline events or activities arising from or related to
your use of the Services.
11. LINKS
Our provision of a link to any other site or location is for your convenience and does not
signify our endorsement of such other site or location or its contents. We have no control
over, do not review, and cannot be responsible for, these outside Web sites or their
content. WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, OR LINKS FOUND AT ANY OTHER
WEBSITE, INTERNET LOCATION, OR SOURCE OF INFORMATION, OR FOR YOUR USE OF SUCH INFORMATION.
12. TERMINATION
You agree that we, in our sole discretion, may terminate your AdvocateLink membership or
other use of the Site or Services without prior notice, and remove and discard Your Content
from the Site, for any reason and without prior notice, including, without limitation, if
we believe that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the
Terms. FURTHER, YOU AGREE THAT WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PARTY FOR ANY
TERMINATION OF YOUR ACCESS TO THE SERVICES. You may discontinue your participation in and
access to the Services at any time.
13. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE SERVICES AND SITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. ADVOCATELINK EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE OR PURPOSE AND NON- INFRINGEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICES. ADVOCATELINK MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICES OR SITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE SERVICES OR SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE; NOR DOES ADVOCATELINK MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICES OR SITE OR AS TO THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES OR SITE, OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE SERVICES OR SITE WILL BE CORRECTED. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT ANY MATERIAL AND/OR INFORMATION DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICES OR SITE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SERVICES OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF SUCH MATERIAL
AND/OR INFORMATION. ADVOCATELINK MAKES NO WARRANTY REGARDING ANY DEALINGS WITH OR
TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO WITH ANY OTHER PARTIES THROUGH THE SERVICES OR SITE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO SATISFACTORY QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, ACCURACY, EFFORT AND RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SITE OR THE SERVICES IS WITH YOU. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM ADVOCATELINK OR THROUGH THE SERVICES SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY MADE HEREIN.

14. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY; RELEASE
Limitation on Liability. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW,
IN NO EVENT WILL ADVOCATELINK OR ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, DIRECTORS, PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF REVENUES, PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF SUCH PARTIES WERE ADVISED OF, KNEW OF OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY), ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR THE SERVICES, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES ARE BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE AND STRICT LIABILITY), WARRANTY, STATUTE OR OTHERWISE. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH ANY PORTION OF THIS SITE, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USE OF THE SITE. The aggregate liability of AdvocateLink to you for all claims arising from or related to the Site or the Services is limited to one-
hundred dollars ($100).
15. EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation or
exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages. Accordingly, some of the
above limitations and disclaimers may not apply to you. To the extent that we may not, as a
matter of applicable law, disclaim any implied warranty or limit its liabilities, the scope
and duration of such warranty and the extent of our liability shall be the minimum
permitted under such applicable law.
16. INDEMNIFICATION
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless AdvocateLink, its parents, subsidiaries,
affiliates, officers, directors, co-branders and other partners (including third-party
partners to whom AdvocateLink may provide Your Content ("Third Parties")), employees,
consultants and agents, from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses,
costs, expenses, fees (including reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs) that
AdvocateLink or Third Parties may incur as a result of or arising from (1) Your Content and
any information you (or anyone accessing the Services using your password) submit, post or
transmit through the Services, (2) your (or access to the Services as you) violation of
these Terms or applicable law, (3) your (or anyone using your account's) violation of any
rights of any other person or entity, or (4) any information or content we collect from
third parties through the Site or Service at your request, or (5) any viruses, trojan
horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, spyware or other similar harmful or deleterious
programming routines input by you into the Services.
17. TRADEMARKS
Certain of the names, logos, and other materials displayed in the Services constitute
trademarks, tradenames, service marks or logos ("Marks") of us or other entities. You are
not authorized to use any such Marks. Ownership of all such Marks and the goodwill
associated therewith remains with us or those other entities.
18. COPYRIGHTS; RESTRICTIONS ON USE
The content made available to you through the Services, other than Content and Your
Content, including without limitation, text, databases, software, code, music, sound,
photos, and graphics ("Our Content"), is (1) copyrighted by AdvocateLink and/or its
licensors under United States and international copyright laws, (2) subject to other
intellectual property and proprietary rights and laws, and (3) owned by AdvocateLink or its
licensors. Our Content, and Content, may not be copied, modified, reproduced, republished,
posted, transmitted, sold, offered for sale, publicly performed, publicly displayed, or
redistributed in any way without our prior written permission and the prior written
permission of our applicable licensors, with the sole exception that one copy may be
downloaded onto a single computer for (a) your personal, noncommercial use if you are a
volunteer or (b) your archival purposes, if you are a nonprofit or public service
organization. You must abide by all copyright notices, information, or restrictions
contained in or attached to any of Content.
19. MISCELLANEOUS
The Terms constitute the entire and exclusive and final statement of the agreement between
you and us with respect to the subject matter hereof, and govern your use of the Services,
superseding any prior agreements or negotiations between you and us with respect to the
subject matter hereof. The Terms and the relationship between you and AdvocateLink shall be
governed by the laws of the State of ____laws or principles that would require the
application of the laws of a different country or state. Any legal action, suit or
proceeding arising out of or relating to the Terms, or your use of, the Services must be
instituted exclusively in the federal or state courts located in _____other jurisdiction.
You further consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in, and agree to service of process
issued or authorized by, any such court. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or
provision of the Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any
provision of the Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the
parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties'
intentions as reflected in the provision, and that the other provisions of the Terms remain
in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary,
any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Services or the Terms
must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever
barred. The section titles in the Terms are for convenience only and have no legal or
contractual effect. This Agreement cannot be transferred or assigned by you without
AdvocateLink's prior written consent. The terms of this Agreement can only be modified as
set forth in Section 3 or upon AdvocateLink's written agreement.
20. SURVIVAL
The terms of Sections 5 through 21 as well as any other limitations on liability explicitly
set forth herein shall survive the expiration or earlier termination of the Terms for any
reason. Our (and our licensors') proprietary rights (including any and all Intellectual
Property Rights) in and to Our Content and the Services shall survive the expiration or
earlier termination of the Terms for any reason.
21. VIOLATIONS
Please report any violations of the Terms to info@researchadvocacy.org.
Effective Date: January 15, 2009